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Valin

Doug Cabana has known Chris Christie for a long time. We’re standing in a ballroom at the welcome party for the New Jersey delegation, and Cabana is explaining to me how he was elected to the county board in Morris County two years after Christie had won a seat. “I’ve known him for 16 years,” Cabana says. “We were both freeholders,” as board members are called. “Now I’m still a freeholder and he’s”—Cabana gestures across the room at Christie, who’s mobbed by cameras, reporters, and Jerseyites—“well, he’s here.” Cabana flashes a smile that’s neither wistful nor bittersweet. It’s full of pride.

Short and compact, with short blond hair and a tough-guy face, Cabana could pass for a state trooper. (Which is close—in his day job, he’s a prosecutor.) Sixteen years is a lot of time, but Cabana thinks Christie is basically unchanged. “The Chris now is the Chris then,” he says. “Exactly the same. The strong persona was there. He always spoke his mind, even then. You always knew where Chris was coming from.”

Christie was on a reform mission from the beginning. He waged his first campaign on the idea of reform and put in place ethics guidelines in Morris County that are still on the books. A young man in a hurry, Christie tried unseating an incumbent Republican in the state assembly a few years later and lost. To drive home the message that the party did not appreciate his vigor, county Republicans then recruited a candidate to run against Christie for his freeholder seat. Christie lost, and his political career looked for a moment like it might be finished.

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Draggingtree

My fellow Americans, my fellow Republicans: The 2012 election is not an election between two men but between two entirely different visions of America. President Obama and I are simply the standard bearers of opposing, and may I add, irreconcilable visions of what America is and should be.

The Republican Party and I represent American values as they have been understood since the founding of our country. The Democratic Party and President Obama represent different values. This does not make any Democrat, let alone President Obama, less American or less patriotic than anyone of us here. But millions of Americans who love our country hold values that emanate from elsewhere.

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pollyannaish

My fellow Americans, my fellow Republicans: The 2012 election is not an election between two men but between two entirely different visions of America. President Obama and I are simply the standard bearers of opposing, and may I add, irreconcilable visions of what America is and should be.

The Republican Party and I represent American values as they have been understood since the founding of our country. The Democratic Party and President Obama represent different values. This does not make any Democrat, let alone President Obama, less American or less patriotic than anyone of us here. But millions of Americans who love our country hold values that emanate from elsewhere.

TAMPA — Despite reports of a compromise, there is still substantial unhappiness among many delegates to the Republican convention over a package of party rules changes proposed by the Romney campaign. The fight — which one conservative delegate calls the result of Team Romney’s “political malpractice” — could break into the open today, as delegates debate various proposals to resolve the conflict.

The short version of the story is that the changes would give the party’s presidential nominee more control over how individual states choose their delegates to the national convention. In this cycle, there have been bitter fights in some states as supporters of Ron Paul, who did not win any primaries or caucuses, tried to exploit the rules at local, district, and state-level conventions to win delegates. If the proposed new rules, introduced by Romney campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg, had been in effect this year, Mitt Romney, as the presumptive nominee, would have had significant control over that delegation-selection process.

TAMPA — Despite reports of a compromise, there is still substantial unhappiness among many delegates to the Republican convention over a package of party rules changes proposed by the Romney campaign. The fight — which one conservative delegate calls the result of Team Romney’s “political malpractice” — could break into the open today, as delegates debate various proposals to resolve the conflict.

The short version of the story is that the changes would give the party’s presidential nominee more control over how individual states choose their delegates to the national convention. In this cycle, there have been bitter fights in some states as supporters of Ron Paul, who did not win any primaries or caucuses, tried to exploit the rules at local, district, and state-level conventions to win delegates. If the proposed new rules, introduced by Romney campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg, had been in effect this year, Mitt Romney, as the presumptive nominee, would have had significant control over that delegation-selection process.

TAMPA — Despite reports of a compromise, there is still substantial unhappiness among many delegates to the Republican convention over a package of party rules changes proposed by the Romney campaign. The fight — which one conservative delegate calls the result of Team Romney’s “political malpractice” — could break into the open today, as delegates debate various proposals to resolve the conflict.

The short version of the story is that the changes would give the party’s presidential nominee more control over how individual states choose their delegates to the national convention. In this cycle, there have been bitter fights in some states as supporters of Ron Paul, who did not win any primaries or caucuses, tried to exploit the rules at local, district, and state-level conventions to win delegates. If the proposed new rules, introduced by Romney campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg, had been in effect this year, Mitt Romney, as the presumptive nominee, would have had significant control over that delegation-selection process.

At 2:00 p.m. today in Tampa, the Republican National Committee, led by Team Romney, is moving to shut down conservative grassroots activists. I’ve been on the phone with several individuals involved in the fight who tell me that the fight is not over, it is only just starting. Specifically, the media is reporting that the rules fight is over because Team Romney is abandoning Ben ... snip read more http://www.redstate....-200-p-m-today/

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Draggingtree

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined a chorus of grassroots conservatives in calling for two proposed rule changes, backed by the top brass of Mitt Romney’s campaign, to be rejected on the floor of the Republican National Convention.

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Valin

The short version of the story is that the changes would give the party’s presidential nominee more control over how individual states choose their delegates to the national convention. In this cycle, there have been bitter fights in some states as supporters of Ron Paul, who did not win any primaries or caucuses, tried to exploit the rules at local, district, and state-level conventions to win delegates.

Sigh. I hate this part of politics.

If this is a problem, I have a simple solution....do away with open primaries/caucus's. Only registered party members should be allowed to partake.

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pollyannaish

The short version of the story is that the changes would give the party's presidential nominee more control over how individual states choose their delegates to the national convention. In this cycle, there have been bitter fights in some states as supporters of Ron Paul, who did not win any primaries or caucuses, tried to exploit the rules at local, district, and state-level conventions to win delegates.

Sigh. I hate this part of politics.

If this is a problem, I have a simple solution....do away with open primaries/caucus's. Only registered party members should be allowed to partake.

Can I hit the like button more than once on this? I HATE the WA ST primary system. Hate it.

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Valin

The short version of the story is that the changes would give the party's presidential nominee more control over how individual states choose their delegates to the national convention. In this cycle, there have been bitter fights in some states as supporters of Ron Paul, who did not win any primaries or caucuses, tried to exploit the rules at local, district, and state-level conventions to win delegates.

Sigh. I hate this part of politics.

If this is a problem, I have a simple solution....do away with open primaries/caucus's. Only registered party members should be allowed to partake.

Can I hit the like button more than once on this? I HATE the WA ST primary system. Hate it.

I am less than thrilled with our system here in Mn. either.

There has been this battle going on here between the "establishment" and the grassroots for decades.

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pollyannaish

The short version of the story is that the changes would give the party's presidential nominee more control over how individual states choose their delegates to the national convention. In this cycle, there have been bitter fights in some states as supporters of Ron Paul, who did not win any primaries or caucuses, tried to exploit the rules at local, district, and state-level conventions to win delegates.

Sigh. I hate this part of politics.

If this is a problem, I have a simple solution....do away with open primaries/caucus's. Only registered party members should be allowed to partake.

Can I hit the like button more than once on this? I HATE the WA ST primary system. Hate it.

I am less than thrilled with our system here in Mn. either.

There has been this battle going on here between the "establishment" and the grassroots for decades.

Whatever happens, in this day and age I agree it has to be over by the convention. They aren't for negotiating anymore...they are a big PR party. That's not going to change because of the way we communicate these days. There has to be a better way. Talk about a hinge of history thing! I bet the party that comes up with the new 21st century "convention" concept will do well.